By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
Mary Bourque, Sullivan County’s Facilities and Operations Director, recently updated county commissioners on the Sullivan County Health System redevelopment project, saying, “We’re getting some things done out there.”
“Not a lot of ups and downs, this is one of those ‘no news is good news,'” she told the board during its meeting on Monday. “We’re continuing to work on the interior of the building as well as the building services, and the exterior cladding is almost complete here as well.”
One of the big changes here was that the county put out a request for proposals for furniture procurement. As part of the air emissions review, the Department of Environmental Services (DES) also reviewed two new generators to ensure they met the requirements under the building permit.
The Governor and Executive Council also approved the extension of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Relief and Reconstruction (GOFERR) project until summer 2026 to complete the entire project.
“This means that we will be able to spend our entire grant, the entire project budget, by the summer of 2026,” she said. “So we will continue to draw down your money until the fall and then continue to pay this grant.”
The next meeting of the Governor and Executive Council is Aug. 30. County Manager Derek Ferland said he has reviewed this and additional GOFERR funding should be discussed.
Next milestones include activating permanent power in September, starting doors and hardware on the fourth floor, and work on the parking lots outside, Bourque said.
“We expect the fourth floor to be essentially finished by the third week of October,” she said. “So after that, we need to get everything going. For a while, it looks like it’s finished. If you think about each floor below that, it’s about three weeks behind the others. It takes us through the rest of the building. So it’s busy.”
Bourque highlighted potential impacts, including issues related to wage class reporting requirements in labor reporting. GOFERR requested a letter specifying which occupations are compliant and how they will be addressed.
She said they were behind schedule with the exterior cladding but everything is now back on schedule. There were also concerns about the materials supplied for wall protection as they received the wrong materials but that has since been resolved.
“It goes without saying that a wall protection will be installed that looks really good and we are very happy with it,” said Bourque.
So far, nearly $37 million has been spent on the project, with about 51% of that coming from GOFERR, so once the money is spent, that percentage will drop.
Bourque showed photos of the laying of flooring, the installation of lighting fixtures on the fourth floor and the progress of the house wall production, which included tiling and flooring in the bath room and the laying of wood in the cargo hold. Equipment is also being set up for a permanent power supply.
The Sullivan County Commissioners will meet again on September 9 at 3 p.m. in the Commissioners Conference Room in the County Administration Building.
